


The Starved Ghoul's McGuffin

by quoquettish



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M, Oneshot Kaneki Ken, Rating Probably Will Not Change, Romance, Slow Burn, Warnings May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:02:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23242969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quoquettish/pseuds/quoquettish
Summary: This fic is actually is a remix of another fic, by the talented Vioxxin! It was up for adoption and I liked the original so much that I decided to put my own spin on it. Secretly, I've always wanted to do something like this...hopefully I can do it justice! I strongly recommend you check out this story's mama ficafterfinishing the first chapter of this one, but please do give it a read because it's lovely and this story will hit a bit differently if you have the original for reference to see what elements have been changed and which have stayed the same. Can't necessarily guarantee that updates will be quick, but I have a lot of free time on my hands right now, so I'm getting a fair amount of writing done.Happy reading!
Relationships: Kaneki Ken | Sasaki Haise/Nagachika Hideyoshi
Comments: 14
Kudos: 49





	The Starved Ghoul's McGuffin

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Way to a Ghoul's Heart (Is Through their Stomach)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10587018) by [Vioxxin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vioxxin/pseuds/Vioxxin). 



> This fic is actually is a remix of another fic, by the talented Vioxxin! It was up for adoption and I liked the original so much that I decided to put my own spin on it. Secretly, I've always wanted to do something like this...hopefully I can do it justice! I strongly recommend you check out this story's mama fic _after_ finishing the first chapter of this one, but please do give it a read because it's lovely and this story will hit a bit differently if you have the original for reference to see what elements have been changed and which have stayed the same. Can't necessarily guarantee that updates will be quick, but I have a lot of free time on my hands right now, so I'm getting a fair amount of writing done. 
> 
> Happy reading!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“So I take it you haven’t had much luck tonight either, huh?”_   
>  _“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” he counters with a small smile, making sure to hold the other man’s eyes for just a beat longer than what’s considered polite, “The night’s still young.”_

Prologue: Fair Play

The sharp blare of thudding bass is a steady thrum in Kaneki’s ears as he slips past the club’s security and into the heat of the crowd. It’s the first day of a holiday weekend, and the crowd’s bawdy demeanor reflects said fact; the venue is even more packed with sweaty bodies than usual, its regular clientele—eager college students and repressed working schlubs hoping to let off some steam after a long week of skull drudgery—bolstered with out-of-towners looking for some excitement in an unfamiliar city. Kaneki's tongue tingles with the enticing, salty twang of sweat when the scent of many humans gathered in one place hits his nostrils, and for a few moments the inside of his head is a haze of stimulation and want as he passes through the thick of the crowd on his way to his destination. 

Taking a seat at the bar, his eyes narrow slightly as his attention is immediately drawn to a familiar shock of bright blonde hair on the other side of the large, open bar area.

He’s here.

The man in question sits sipping his drink, eyes lazily following the other patrons in the club here and there as he fields questions from the patron on his left with a mild air of disinterest. The ghoul subtly keeps an eye on the exchange as he takes a seat at the bar and snags the bartender’s attention with a raised hand, putting in an order for his usual. 

As expected, the light-haired man is not alone at the bar—at least physically, that is. Another man, about the same age as the blond, give or take a few years, is leaned in conspicuously close to him, lips moving tirelessly as he struggles to keep the other man talking. The blond is polite enough, answering the man’s questions smoothly, not missing a single beat, but from where Kaneki sits, it’s clear that he’s being careful not to hold his suitor’s gaze for too long, lest the other man get the wrong impression.

He’s watched this same desperate little play unfold before his very eyes several times before, each ending in failure on the part of the would-be-suitor. The light-haired man attracts them night after night, every weekend—a never ending promenade of foolhardy individuals, lured in by wide, honey-colored eyes and an inviting smile. Judging from the liberal manner in which he fields his bar company’s questions each time, he would seem to be an excellent conversationalist, observant and bright, if something of an open book—just challenging enough a target to make things interesting, yet loosely guarded enough as to be vulnerable.

But for all his apparent openness, the man is a bit of a mystery. Kaneki has watched him come to this club several times over the course of the past few weeks—always alone, never leaving with anyone—which is odd considering that this is a popular spot for anonymous hookups. The man’s behavior made even less sense the first time the ghoul followed him home, trailing the unsuspecting human from the rooftops as he walked the ten or so blocks from the warehouse district to his doorstep, footsteps slightly unsteady from the four or five drinks he’d consumed at the club at the behest of would-be prospects. His apartment is a sad little affair—a cheap little one-room tucked into the corner of a building that probably hasn’t seen a proper renovation in over twenty years, located in an area of questionable repute. He lives alone with no pets and from what Kaneki can tell he makes the trek from his shoddy little apartment to the three-star restaurant where he busses tables six days a week—no sign of a significant other who might look less than kindly on him frequenting a club that most people go to almost exclusively for casual sex, no close family or friends, and no other major activities to punctuate the simple monotony of his daily routine other than his weekly trip to the club, though he does seem to be something of a music lover. Kaneki has never seen him leave his house without the same pair of well-used orange headphones hugging his head or slung casually around his neck, such that the ghoul has privately taken to calling him ‘Headphones’.

At last the unwelcome suitor seems to take the hint, peeling away and back into the crowd with a slightly frustrated expression, and Kaneki finally manages to lock eyes with the blond from across the bar when he shifts his position to return to nursing his drink in solitude and aimlessly watching the crowd. He‘s attractive as far as humans go—all sharp angles and glistening golden skin with just the right amount of softness around the edges, and Kaneki can’t help the way his eyes narrow with pleasure as he imagines that perfect mouth shuddering open around his name as the man breathes his very last breath. 

Honey-cinnamon eyes widen slightly when the dark-haired stranger across the bar settles down his glass after a long sip to suggestively run his tongue across his lips, and delicate high cheekbones, framed in a messy fringe of artificially bright blond, darken with the slightest tinge of rose as their owner abruptly averts his gaze, staring back down into his glass intently for a moment.

Kaneki downs the last bit of his drink before slowly standing to make his way around to the other side of the bar, where the object of his interest has resolutely repositioned himself so that he’s no longer facing the ghoul. His new position renders him completely oblivious to the fact that Kaneki has left his spot and instead slipped around to the opposite side of the counter to claim the seat right next to him, and the expression that settles over the blond’s features when he finally turns to order another drink and finds a fresh glass already laid out before him betrays his surprise. He blinks at the full glass of beer that the bartend has set in front of him at the dark-haired stranger’s request for a moment, brow crinkling in mild bewilderment.

“I wasn’t sure what you wanted so I just asked for two of whatever you just had. Hope that wasn’t too… _presumptuous_.”

The light-haired man’s head snaps up at the sensation of warm breath rushing against his earlobe as the ghoul speaks close in his ear in an intimate club-whisper. The dark-haired man’s low tenor carries oddly well over the persistent background noise of the crowd, embedding itself deep in his ear and causing the tiniest of tremors to shake his sturdy frame. Kaneki’s smile widens.

“Not at all. Thanks…uh…”

“Kaneki Ken,” he supplies smoothly, “Just ‘Kaneki’ is fine. Do you mind if I ask for yours in return?”

“Thanks for the drink, Kaneki. My name is Hideyoshi—Hide for short.”

“Do you come here often, Hide? I feel like I’ve seen you here before.” He’s seen him here every weekend for the past month and a half.

“Lately, yeah,” Headphones replies with a wry little smile, “Though I’m kind of starting to wonder why I bother, _hah_.”

“I take it you haven’t found what you’re looking for?”

A small, self-deprecating laugh rushes through the light-haired man’s nostrils at his question.

“Starting to think I should have just downloaded an app,” he snorts half-seriously.

“You’re not the only one,” Kaneki co-commiserates with a little grimace of his own, raising his glass, “To wasted cover fees.”

His little toast earns him a genuine smile of amusement as the blond raises his own drink to lightly bump it against the ghoul’s, and Kaneki can’t help but appreciate how the low lighting surrounding the bar glances off his brow and cheekbones just so, catching his irises so that they seem to glow with their own inner light somehow, two deep pools of molten amber. Headphones grins into his glass as he takes a deep sip of his beer, and in that moment he’s all soft ochres and burnished golds from head to toe, like Apollo himself come down from the heavens to mingle among mortals and grace them with his light. Kaneki allows himself a long look, surreptitiously holding his gaze on the other man’s generous features when the blond’s eyes close reflexively as he savors the first gulp of his fresh drink.

“Mm, it really does taste better when somebody else’s buying,” Headphones says. He punctuates his little joke with a soft chuckle, licking away faint traces of foam from his lips as he turns to face his new companion properly, “So I take it you haven’t had much luck tonight either, huh?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” he counters with a small smile, making sure to hold the other man’s eyes for just a beat longer than what’s considered polite, “The night’s still young.”

By their second drink, Kaneki has learned that Headphones is a local, born and raised in a nearby ward. He moved here for college and ended up staying after he was done with school because he hadn’t really known what he wanted to do once he graduated. The rest is all information Kaneki already knew or could have guessed from his weeks of reconnaissance, but he exhibits the signs of interest expertly, nodding at all the right points and asking just enough questions to seem engaged without coming off as creepy.

The conversation heats up as they polish off their third round—this one courtesy of the blond—and a solid arm, emboldened by alcohol, loops carefully around his waist. Gentle digits press lightly into the small of his back so that he’s coaxed further into Headphones’ personal space, and suddenly the fact that the other man has so casually rebuffed the aggressive advances of all the eager suitors he’s watched approach the blond over the past several weeks makes much, much more sense. Warm, honey-colored eyes capture and hold his own firmly, and the dark-haired ghoul feigns surprise and hesitation when a low, suggestive whisper rushes into his ear.

_“Would you like to take this someplace a bit more private?”_

Headphones’ soft brown eyes narrow indulgently when the dark-haired man gives a tentative nod in response and Kaneki suppresses the urge to grin sardonically as he allows the human to gently take his hand, rising from the counter and leading him toward the back of the club. A slow smile unfurls across the ghoul’s features as he imagines what it will feel like to taste that tender, sun kissed skin under his tongue just as the other man is finishing inside him—how the sharp twang of ecstasy and the sultry spice of sexual excitement will marry perfectly on his taste buds, heightened by a chaser of acidic terror when he rips this golden boy’s throat out mid-release.

As they make their way out the back door and step into the alley behind the club, Headphones pauses abruptly.

“Shit…I left my ID at the bar. Stay right there—I’ll be back in a sec!”

Kaneki waves him off with a nod and a smile. He’s just beginning to feel a sense of unease prick at him at the fact that he hasn’t yet heard the slam of the club’s back door opening and shutting behind him when there is a sharp prick of sensation at the side of his neck. His instincts kick in immediately, forearm lashing out at the man at his back even as Headphones reflexively draws back, literally flinging the blond into the back wall of the club. A loud groan sounds from behind him as pliant human flesh meets unforgiving brick and mortar, but that’s little consolation with the edges of his vision swiftly beginning to blur. As he clumsily drags his leaden body around to face his assailant, Kaneki can just barely make out a pair of soft, cinnamon colored eyes, narrowed in pain above a small, blood-spattered grin of triumph. 

A grim little twinge of laughter quirks the dark-haired ghoul’s lips as he slowly slips into the abyss. He should probably be filled with panic or rage or at least some modicum of regret right now; but instead all he feels is dark amusement at the bitter irony that his demise should finally find him at the hands of the one human he had undoubtedly been the most eager to make a meal of.

After all, Kaneki muses, turnabout is fair play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congratulations Kaneki, you just stepped into a literal honey trap adghsdsgjff
> 
> An apex hunter, folks...lmfaooooo


End file.
